For variable alignment of light sources of an illumination device it is known in the prior art to offset sections of a printed circuit board of the illumination device on which one or more of the light sources are fixedly mounted at an angle with respect to the remaining level printed circuit board. This enables the main radiation directions or optical axes of the light sources of different sections to be orientated differently. It is disadvantageous that producing an angular offset entails an increased investment in terms of resources and consequently also cannot usefully be accomplished locally on site. Furthermore, the number and type of light sources cannot be variably adjusted. Conductor tracks in the vicinity of the bending edge may also tear if the bend is extreme.
An illumination device having a plurality of rigid printed circuit boards is also known in which the printed circuit boards are in each case populated with at least one light source and are connected in series with one another by means of flexible sections. It is disadvantageous that the bend can only be produced in the longitudinal direction of the illumination device and in order to set a desired angle between two printed circuit boards it is necessary in addition to fix these in position by means of a securing device. Furthermore, the number of printed circuit boards and number and type of light sources per printed circuit board are not variably adjustable on site.
Also known are LED tapes having a ribbon-like flexible printed circuit board, with a series of light-emitting diodes being mounted on the printed circuit board. It is disadvantageous that the flexibility is given essentially only in the longitudinal direction of the illumination device and in addition setting a desired angle between the light-emitting diodes requires the bend to be precisely positioned and the flexible printed circuit board to be fixed in place accordingly. Although the number of light sources is variably adjustable locally by customizing the printed circuit board on site, the type of light sources is not.